Page 252 - A Definitive Reply to Evolutionist Propaganda
P. 252
A DEFINITIVE REPLY
TO EVOLUTIONIST
PROPAGANDA
Bipedalism and Other Humanoid Characteristics:
A Morass of Prejudice and Speculation
Scientific American contains considerable speculation regarding
the advantages that an adaptation such as walking on two legs
might have brought with it. Yet, for some reason, this claim consists
of speculation rather than hard evidence. The paleontologist Pat
Shipman has this to say on the matter in a paper published in the
journal American Scientist:
There is no shortage of ideas about the essential nature of the
human species and the basic adaptations of our kind. Some say ho-
minids are fundamentally thinkers; others favor tool-makers or
talkers; still others argue that hunting, scavenging or bipedal walk-
ing made hominids special. Knowing what the First Hominid
looked like would add some meat to a soup flavored with specula-
tion and prejudice. 6
A Deceptive Illustration
In one of the photographs published by Scientific American,
skulls belonging to Homo erectus and the species Australopithecus boi-
sei are compared. The anatomical differences between the two are
then put down to nutritional habits.
The Australopithecus boisei skull shown on the left of the picture
can clearly be seen to bear a close similarity to present-day chim-
panzee skulls. The sagittal crest, which holds the former's powerful
chewing muscles, and is alleged to have evolved from eating tough,
fibrous plants, is also found in modern apes. The fossil shown as
Homo erectus is actually human, and it is therefore natural that it
should not possess a sagittal crest and a powerful jaw structure.
What has been done here is to put two skulls, one ape and one
human, side by side and then engage in pro-evolutionist specula-
tion on the basis of the differences between them. Those who lack
sufficient information in this area may well be taken in by these
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